Won't autofocus Help! All of a sudden my D50 wont autofocus. It just keeps going back and forth, back and forth, never settling on a focused subject. I've reset and checked everything I can think of. Made sure all the settings are correct. This just happened, it was working fine one moment and the next not! I have a Nikkor DX 18-70mm 1.35-4.5 G lens attached. Thanks for any help from anyone. I've taken the lens off and put it back on again...tried just about everything I can think of! I did notice another post about this but it wasn't helpful because it wasn't specific, something about holding the focus ring...but I had no idea what they were talking about.
Karen

First try another lens on the body and see if the problem is the lens or the body,if its the body the autofocus mirror could be out of adjustment, if its the lens, it sounds like the lens took an impact and needs a pro repair. you should be able to set body to manual focus and focus lens to infinty.

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Related Questions:

There are no rules or conventions for this. It is totally up to you to chose which method to use.

Sometimes when taking images in close up where a leaf or stalk may invoke autofocus to lock onto the wrong object to get a clear pic, then select manual so your subject is in focus

Depth Of Field is also associated with focusing, autofocus does not always deal well ith DOF situations. It might be better for you to get a simple book on digital photography to help you understand how to get the best results from your camera

Hello,It's possible that the reason the "pictures turn out fairly good" is that your f-stop is set high enough that even though the image isn't properly focused, you have enough depth-of-field to bring your subject into "near focus". Does your lens try to focus back and forth when you half-press the shutter? If not, double check that the lens is in autofocus and not manual focus. You can also try cleaning the contacts between the lens and camera. Take the lens off, and then one-at-a-time clean the contacts on both the lens and the camera, using a clean pencil eraser. Gently rub the contacts. Be sure to hold the item upside down so that the eraser debris falls on to the table, not into the camera body or lens!

If none of this helps the autofocus may have become damaged and you need to have the lens and camera looked at by Canon Repair.

When this happens with my D70s, I know of two options. 1) use manual focus or 2) autofocus on another object about the same distance away from my subject (holding the shutter release half way) and then move the camera back to my subject composition. This seems to happen when there is little contrast in the scene, i.e., a field of same colored flowers. Hope this helps.

Blur can occur if the shutter speed is too low relative to the degree of movement of your subject(s). While the 'sports' mode favors shutter speed and adjusts the focus for moving subjects, you may still need to increase the ISO (I'm not sure the camera does that automatically), or use flash, if feasible.
Alternatively, try panning the camera with your moving subject. This should blur the background, but keep the subject from blurring.
Finally, keep in mind that in sports photography, blur is sometimes a desired outcome that produces a sense of motion in an otherwise static photo.

Auto-focus technology on this camera is controlled by several contacts on the mount that physically mate with other contacts on your lens. It sounds like your mount may be malfunctioning due to wear and tear (if cleaning does not work). This is between $100 and $300 fix depending on which part(s) need replacement.

Your diopter may not be adjusted ( adjustment for sharpness of image in viewfinder on the side of the eye-piece ) so set that first and then try again. If this is correct then your camera is focusing accurately ( on the sensor ) but only the image in viewfinder looks unsharp.

Same happened to mine ,Its almost as though the motor has dis-engaged.I SOLVED MINE BY FORCING THE FOCUS RING WITH AUTOFOCUS ENGAGED THIS SEEMS TO HAVE RE ENGAGED THE MOTOR .HOWEVER BE CAREFUL I HAD LITTLE TO LOSE MINE WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY WHEN I DID THIS.Its perfect since.